Just who was Helen of Troy?

I think there are three versions: Helen of Troy the myth, Helen the divine goddess and Helen as a historical record. As the heroine in the great epics, such as Homer’s The Iliad, mythical Helen of Sparta is at the centre of the Trojan War. Because she’s so perfectly beautiful, no man can resist her, including a visiting prince named Paris, who takes her back with him to Troy. Greece is so affronted by the theft of the most beautiful woman in the world that they travel to Troy and fight for ten years to get her back. And that’s where the famous phrase ‘the face that launched a thousand ships’ came from. Helen was also worshipped very actively as a goddess in the ancient world. There are sanctuaries to Helen in ancient Egypt, Palestine, Sicily, Turkey and Greece – she was a very important, divine figure because, to them, she represented beauty, sexual attraction and the troubling power of women. And finally, if you look at Helen’s story very carefully – how it’s told by the poets, and how she’s depicted in pot paintings – a huge part of her story relates directly to what was really going on in the late Bronze Age.

What inspired you to write a book about her?

During the early research stage of writing the book, I had a cab ride in Cambridge and the driver said: “Oh Helen
of Troy, was she horny then?” That, to me, demonstrates her fame – we’re talking about a character who may not have even existed, if she did, she lived 3,500 years ago, and yet a random cab driver in Cambridge thinks he has an idea of who or what she was. So because everyone’s heard of her, but no-one really knows anything about her, I thought, “That’s perfect territory for writing a book.”

What made you study history in the first place?

I’ve always loved the characters in history, and I remember, when I was four years old, watching a TV programme about Tutankhamen and thinking, “That’s extraordinary, these fairy tales I’ve heard about princes being buried in golden tombs are real!” Since that point, I’ve always loved history – I always wanted to go to old places and scrabble around in the mud seeing if I could find bits of pottery.

Which of the numerous places you’ve travelled to during your career has been the most memorable?

As a historian, probably the most exciting and breathtaking is an archaeological site called Menelaion near Sparta, in Greece, in the foothills of the Taygetos mountain range. Few people go there, but it’s stunningly beautiful, with a river winding down in the valley below the mountains, which are snow-capped well into June. Up on the top of the Menelaion is an archaic stone that’s dedicated to Helen of Troy. It really is breathtaking. I’ve done a lot of travel throughout Greece, Asia Minor, central Europe and North Africa, and it’s one of the most beautiful places I’ve been. In a way, it demonstrates how important Helen was. I also feel very at home in the Middle East because it’s so rich in history.

What’s your view on the removal of artefacts from the country in which they were found? Do you think that the Elgin Marbles should be returned to Greece?

Well, controversially, I think the Elgin Marbles should stay at the British Museum, because if the Elgin Marbles had to go back, there would have to be an amnesty of all artefacts from all museums, almost without exception. That can’t happen – it’s absolutely impractical. The majority of museum collections were dug up hundreds of years ago, at a time when the legal situation was incredibly nebulous. The truth is, more people come to London, and more people are able to see the Elgin Marbles here, than if they were in Athens. I think what’s been done has been done, but that artefacts should now stay in their country of origin, and that should be written into excavation contracts.

What contribution do you think the study of ancient history can make to the modern world?

I’m amazed when you hear government ministers talking about history being irrelevant. I can’t imagine anything that is more relevant than the development of human society because, as a race, we survive through the use of memory. And that’s what history is – it’s remembering what has happened. Homer wrote this incredibly poignant passage where the Greeks and Trojans are massed against one another and they decide to have a truce – a ceasefire – and it’s one rogue archer who’s fired up and frenzied and lets off an arrow into the enemy, which of course breaks the ceasefire. Well, that’s what’s going on in the Middle East at the moment – there are people and situations that you just can’t control.

What are you working on now?

We’re hoping to air a programme on Christmas Eve on BBC Radio Three that looks at the women behind the goddess myths. The next big book I’ll be tackling is a biography of Socrates.